


Skirts and Heels

by snowflakesautumnleaves



Series: Reginald Hargreeves is an Even Bigger Asshole Than we Thought [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Child Abuse, Grace and Pogo are mentioned, I wrote this instead of studying for AP bio help me, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus just wants to wear pretty clothes, Pre-Canon, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, his siblings are understanding, reginald is an asshole, the rest of the kids are only mentioned/implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 09:59:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18071234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowflakesautumnleaves/pseuds/snowflakesautumnleaves
Summary: When Klaus broke his jaw after falling down the stairs in his mom's heels, his siblings were told that the impact of the fall had caused the break. That wasn't the truth.OrReginald snaps when he finds Klaus at the bottom of the stairs in Grace's heels.





	Skirts and Heels

**Author's Note:**

> TW for child abuse. It's very brief but still, be careful if you get triggered by that!

The Hargeeves siblings had just turned twelve. Despite it still being a year before they were officially teenagers, most of them had already been subjected to the joys of teen angst and the rebellious feelings that came with it. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much that they could do to act out those feelings due to the circumstance of being under the surveillance of Sir Reginald Hargreeves 24/7. Although, they did, on occasion, manage it. They would sneak out when they knew their father was sleeping rather than watching the footage of them in their rooms. Every time, without fail, Klaus would lead them to Griddy’s Donuts. They never had any money so Allison would rumor the shop owner into giving them free, unlimited donuts for the night. (They only felt guilty when Vanya would point out that the lady - Agnes - relied on selling donuts for her living.) They would leave hours later, stuffed too full to walk, and make their way back to the Academy. After sneaking back in they all stumbled into their own rooms to try to get as much sleep as possible before another day of seemingly endless training.

Klaus was unlike the rest of his siblings when it came to rebellion. It wasn’t that he didn’t partake, after all, he was the one who led them on all of their little nights out. Instead, it was that it hadn’t taken him being an almost teenager to rebel against his father’s rules.

His rebellion started when he was five. That was the age they all started “school” (a room in the mansion with seven desks, a chalkboard, and Pogo serving as the teacher) so Reginald deemed it appropriate that they all wear school uniforms. From the very first time he put it on Klaus had wished that he could wear the bottoms that the Allison and Vanya got to wear. It wasn’t that he didn’t like his shorts, because he did! He could fit all kinds of cool rocks and bugs in the pockets and he knew from watching the girls play that his were easier to run around in. He just thought that the skirts (as he’d been told by Pogo when he asked why the girl’s shorts had only one leg hole) were cooler than the shorts. They were prettier than his boring gray shorts and he wanted to wear one. So he went to his father and explained his predicament but was met with an intense glare accompanied with a stern talking to.

“You will not wear anything of the sort, Number Four. The skirts are for the girls. It is wildly inappropriate for you, a boy, to wear one. Now leave.”

“But-”

“Go!”

After that day he hadn’t asked his father a skirt again. Instead, he took to wearing them when he was playing dress up with Allison during their allotted “fun time”. She let him wear whatever he wanted to, her skirts and her dresses mostly. As they got older and Allison’s fashion taste began to include more frivolous things like makeup, nail polish, feather boas, and jewelry, Klaus started wearing those things too. In the beginning, Allison would do his nails and makeup for him. He tried the first time but it came out absolutely horrendous. Luckily he was a quick learner and was soon able to apply eyeliner better than Allison could.

The two of them, with their flamboyant styles, held regular fashion shows in Alison's room for their siblings to watch. At first, they didn’t understand why Klaus was wearing dresses with a full face of makeup and bright pink nail polish. They never understood, not fully, but they accepted it when they realized that is was just what he liked. They all (minus Luther who found it too strange and was only there for Allison anyway) cheered him on as he walked down the imaginary runway. They did fully understand their brother’s desperate pleas to never tell dad about the fashion shows though. Everyone in the house had realized by then that Reginald would never understand Klaus. He simply was too old fashioned. None of them wanted to imagine the punishment Klaus would receive if he found out, so they all agreed that it would be their secret. It took some convincing of Luther (mostly Five threatening to kill him in his sleep) but he agreed. No one found out, not Reginald, not Pogo, and not Mom.

That’s why, at the age of twelve, when the six of them had been told Klaus had broken his jaw falling down the stairs in their mother’s heels, no one questioned it. They laughed about it because that was such a Klaus thing to do. He had recently taken to stealing Allison’s clothes as they barely had any time to put on fashions shows anymore (Reginald had increased their training time and decreased their leisure time). It made sense that he would steal Mom’s clothes too so they never gave it a second thought. They enjoyed their eight weeks of a silent Klaus and forgot about it once everything was over.

The truth was though, that Klaus was perfectly fine after his tumble down the stairs. He was a little startled but was laughing at his own stupidity once he realized nothing hurt but a couple of bumps and bruises. His laughter was quickly cut short when he heard the stern, anger laced voice directed at him.

“Number Four!” His father was practically expressionless but the tight-knit of his brow and the fire in his eyes told him that he was seething. “Stand up! What is the meaning of this? Explain yourself!”

Klaus quickly scrambled to get to his feet with his arms glued to his sides and his chin up, standing at attention. “I, uh, well you see Dad-”

“Where did you get those shoes?”

“Now why would that matter?” Klaus cracked a smile and gave a little laugh. He was desperate to relieve some of the tension from the situation. “Your son just fell down a flight of stairs, aren’t you going to ask if he’s okay?”

Almost instantly, the back of Reginald’s hand made contact with Klaus’s face and sent him flying to the ground. The side of his face made contact with the edge of the stair and Klaus cried out in pain. Tears quickly followed and whether they were from pain or the shock of his father hitting him he couldn’t tell.

“I keep surveillance on all of your rooms,” Reginald began, looking down at Klaus. “I’ve watched your so-called “fashion shows”. I also had Number One confirm for me that dressing in your sister’s clothing is your own choice and that you often prefer to wear her clothes to your own.”

He looked at the curled up child on the floor expecting him to confirm or try to deny his statements but Klaus was in too much pain to anything but to try not to let a sob escape his lips.

Reginald turned around, his back now facing Klaus. “I will not tolerate this behavior Number Four. Next time there will be punishment. Perhaps some extra training is in order for you?”

With that, the sob he’d been holding back finally escaped and his “father” walked away calling to Grace that Number Four was in need of medical attention.


End file.
